SEVEN

‘Someday, you will grow up to be a strong fighter just like your father, and then you’ll show them that you are not just a pretty face. They will see that a woman can be pretty and still possess the strength of a warrior and the wisdom of a ruler,' My mother had told a six-year-old me.

‘Is that going to make dad love me?’ I’d asked, dabbing the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hands.

‘Your father loves you Esmeray! Don’t you even think for a second that he doesn’t. Who wouldn’t love someone so beautiful?’ she’d told me.

But she lied. After what they did, no one loved me. Everyone hated me. And I didn’t grow up to be the strong fighter that she’d predicted because I wasn’t allowed to train with the other members of the pack. If I was a strong fighter, I’d have been able to tackle just one warrior at least, but I couldn’t.

The warrior sprinted after me. He was stronger, and faster, and he caught me by my sleeves a few inches from the edge of the rooftop. I proceeded to battle w